The couple’s troubles initially began in February when they took their one-year-old son, Amen’Ra, to Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida, for dehydration when he was struggling with the transition from breast milk to solid foods, according to We Have the Right to Be Right, an activist group campaigning for Mercado. While there, the group stated that, Amen’Ra was assessed by Dr. Sally Smith, a physician who was the subject of a USA Today Network investigation for being accused by critics of being too quick to conclude caregivers are abusing children, something Smith denied to USA Today Network.
According to NBC News, the investigation reviewed hundreds of Smith’s cases and found more than a dozen instances in which charges were dropped or parents were acquitted. In Mercado’s case, instead of Amen’Ra being released to his parents at the end of his hospital stay, he was put into the hands of the Manatee Child Protective Services and is now living with a foster family.
The parents also set up a GoFundMe titled “The Legalized Kidnapping of Black Babies Through CPS” prior to this week’s incident. So far, over $291,000 have been raised, surpassing their posted $200,000 goal to cover legal bills. Check out the video below of Mercado’s ordeal.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCqsOIVf2OA[/embedyt]
